Now you're cooking

[Lloyd Danforth]

A good book telling you what is eatable in your yard is very handy.

I have found 5 mulberry trees in my yard, a red oak tree (the indians use to make bread out of the acorns, there are several web sites telling you how to make bread from these  acorns, and the acrons are not bad to eat right off the ground).

George, I have all of the Euell Gibbons books 'stalking this and that'.  Remind me to tell you of my adventure with an Arrowroot.

[Pat McCotter]

Ahhh...growing up, visiting my grandparents in Michigan. The basement had 2 stoves with pots boiling different vegetables and fruits for canning.

Pitting cherries, peeling carrots and potatoes, coring apples.

Washing and boiling the jars; making sure the lid rings were OK.

Listening to the jar lids pop as they cooled. Lining up the jars on the pantry shelves - behind all the jars from before.

Thanks for the memories, folks.

[Marcy]

Pat, I love memories like that.   Our version is of grandparents with a large garden in upstate New York .... women relatives, all decked out in aprons, gathered in the kitchen for various cutting, cooking and canning chores, sharing the BEST gossip you'd want to hear.

At Thanksgiving, my job was to "scoot" down to the cellar, hand cut into earthen walls with wooden shelves all around, and get jars for dinner.

We don't have an earthen cellar (in my condo!) so we did the next-best replica: a large closet turned into a pantry, complete with wooden shelves Grandma would have approved of. 

Older stuff in front, of course.

[cathleeninnh]

Not fair, you guys! I never had grandparents.

Cathleen

[AlanM]

Listening to the jar lids pop as they cooled.

For some reason, that's always my favorite part!

My ex-wife canned for several years, and yes, it was cool listening to the lids pop.

[Kat Kanning]

My ex-wife canned for several years, and yes, it was cool listening to the lids pop.

Those peope who say NH has no nightlife are really missing out.

[Otosan]

Listening to the jar lids pop as they cooled

The only popping sound heard in my house was the pop of the pop the beer can pot top made.....

[Kat Kanning]

Listening to the jar lids pop as they cooled

The only popping sound heard in my house was the pop of the pop the beer can pot top made.....

Beer cans have pot tops now?   

[Pat K]

Good lord Beer from a can AAAAAAh oh the horror.

[Kat Kanning]

Are you supposed to drink it straight from the keg?

[Lloyd Danforth]

Listening to the jar lids pop as they cooled

The only popping sound heard in my house was the pop of the pop the beer can pot top made.....

Beer cans have pot tops now?   

The really, really good ones do.

[Pat K]

Are you supposed to drink it straight from the keg?

Bottles women bottles

[Marcy]

anyone here have experience making their own wine?

[KBCraig]

anyone here have experience making their own wine?

When I was in my early teens, Dad made several batches of wine. We grew our own Concord grapes, which thrived over the septic lateral lines. We had mixed results. We lost a couple of batches to bad airlocks, and a few gallons to freezing (we stored them in glass gallon jugs, in the barn). Our main fermenter was a collapsible plastic 5 gallon jug, with an airlock. To bring the sugar levels up, he used granulated sugar (not good), and used baking yeast instead of vintner's yeast (really not good).

End result: it cost more than Wiederkehr or Post's (our Arkansas alternatives), was highly variable in quality, but was a heckuva lot of fun! 

All in all, I'd say it was the vino equivalent of "Mr. Beer". (Beer lovers know what an insult that is!)

But, having had some very excellent muscadine wine, and other homemade wines, I know that you can produce outstanding wine at home. Just remember, there are no substitutes for excellent grapes, the proper yeast, and time. Especially time, and proper aging conditions.

Kevin

[Lloyd Danforth]

A friend of mine made his own wine using Welch's concentrate, yeast and sugar in a gallon bottle with an airlock.  Cheap!  Wasn't the best wine I ever had or the worse.